While you were out
by arkari
Summary: Gear gotta protect Dakota by his own and the distrust of certain superheroes is his smallest trouble...


Gear gotta protect Dakota by his own and the distrust of certain superheroes is his smallest trouble...

While you were out...

__

Can't be... true... an amazed Richard reread the information that Backpack received. Letters followed one another, forming words he couldn't believe and informing of a shocking, horrible episode he didn't understand completely. _Tal... no, Teresa... The second explosion occurred three months ago, and she escaped from the Big Bang gas!..._

The kitchen was seized by silence. Richie was alone, his mother said she was going to visit Erika, a friend she met recently. Trying to fool a super-genius with such a stupid excuse... it took him just seconds to realize Mrs. Foley was lying. Her new friend, Erik, of course. And the blonde could imagine what kind of "visit" she was going to do. He couldn't blame her, Sean wasn't the kind of man who uses to show his feelings... but he _has_ feelings for his family. It was an undeniable fact, otherwise he wouldn't work 10 hours a day for a miserable salary (if Alva was grateful for the security guards of his Industries, he didn't demonstrated through the money) nor accepting (or trying to accept) a black youth as the best friend of his son. Of course Sean wasn't perfect at all, there were times in which Richie hated him, and wished to escape from him, to have another family and to not born. But the teen loved his parents, damn, he did... although he preferred staying at Virgil's home. Richie didn't like to admit it, but he couldn't stop perceiving a cold atmosphere inside his own home.

Though, the information he just read was way more important than Mrs. Foley's infidelity, than the fact Richie didn't know what to do about it, than all Richie's problems. In fact, it was a problem Gear had to deal with. A sound cut the silence, the teenager left the newspaper and grabbed his ShockBox. The expression of his face was similar to a shipwrecked person's one, when he sees the missed coast. In another circumstances, Richie would complain about Virgil's excessive preoccupation. It will be just for a couple of weeks, for God's sake!. No matter how many times his mind repeated the words Batman said to him, he knew he could deal with everything. The only villain Gear should _really_ worry about was "Riot", the bicephalous and powerful monster Ebon and Hotstreak changed into. That's why he was planning how to stop Riot, using the information he got from their last encounter, occurred five weeks ago. While Virgil was out, Gear was going to protect Dakota _by his own_, and was going to success.

But in that very moment, after reading what happened with Teresa, once Talon, Richie needed a break. Desperately...

He was going to answer Virgil when a terrible headache made him faint.

x:x:x: x:x:x: x:x:x: x:x:x: x:x:x: Minutes before x:x:x: x:x:x: x:x:x: x:x:x: x:x:x: x:x:x:

"Teresa! Hurry up!" the young man was standing near to the door. Peter was tall, his dark eyes and red, short hair gave him a surprising resemblance to Hotstreak... a resemblance which was contradicted by the peaceful and agreeable expression of his face. She walked quickly, trying to not leave too much popcorn behind. The pain in her stomach increased. _Oh my... Am I pregnant? Calm down, Teresa, don't start with the paranoia. Yeah, there is a delay and yeah, you and Peter already... and yeah, your stomach is driving you crazy over and over again. Don't rush, T, and live this moment. And don't think about any pregnancy. _Peter took the snack, after thanking his girlfriend with a soft kiss. They entered together, his right arm surrounding her hip. "I hope Daisy and Frieda have found good seats This movie will rock, I can feel it" he said.

With a rocking movie or without it, Teresa was happy. Talon was dead. The winged and screaming freak was buried, deep in her soul. She recovered her life, just as she wished from the very moment those orange feathers covered her human factions. Shiv, Hotstreak and Ebon... ghosts from a past full of pain, crime and blood. Teresa was going to leave that past behind, and move on. Ironically, this gift was courtesy of two persons she did hate: Dr. Todd and Gear. Hell, how she hated that blonde superhero! Tears appeared in her eyes every time Teresa thought about all Gear gave her back.

Frieda waved her hand, they already got four seats. She and Daisy where Peter's classmates, just like Richie, a teen Frieda introduced to her at the Burger Fool. The blonde didn't talk much, he was too busy staring at her like if he was afraid of something. Of course, that behavior made Teresa classify him as "weirdo". Not only that, some of his movements were kinda effeminate. But where did she know Richie, before?

The pain made her fell on her knees, something moved inside her abdomen. Teresa screamed, while she looked at her sink while it expanded. Something was inside, and pushing!. She felt claws ripping her belly, while the thing became bigger. In a mute beg, she stared at a horrified Peter. All the spectators were petrified; in the middle of a explosion of blood and flesh, a orange, bird-like monster, as big as a human head, came from her abdomen.

The last thing Teresa saw before dying was her son attacking Peter's face.


End file.
